Ludovico Sforza

Ludovico Maria "il Moro" Sforza (27 July 1452-27 May 1508) was Duke of Milan from 21 October 1494 to 6 September 1499, succeeding Gian Galeazzo Sforza and preceding Louis XII of France, having previously served as regent from 1480 to 1494.

Biography
Ludovico Sforza was born in Vigevano, Lombardy on 27 July 1452, the fourth son of Francesco I Sforza and Bianca Maria Visconti. In 1481, he struggled with Bona of Savoy to become regent for the young Gian Galeazzo Sforza after the assassination of Galeazzo Maria Sforza in 1476, and he sponsored extensive work in civil and military engineering; he also commissioned Leonardo da Vinci as an artist. In 1494, he had Gian Galeazzo murdered so that he could become ruler of Milan, and he allied with France to oppose Pope Alexander VI's alliance with Alfonso II of Naples. Sforza sided with France during the Italian War of 1494-98, only to switch sides after it became clear that King Charles VIII of France would also seek to press his claims on the throne of the Duchy of Milan after conquering the Kingdom of Naples. In 1499, King Louis XII of France drove him from Milan and became the new Duke. In 1500, he returned to Milan with an army of mercenaries, but he was betrayed to the French by his Swiss mercenaries at Novara. He was imprisoned until his death at the dungeon of Loches in 1508.